


Something Seems Off

by DopScratch



Category: OFF (Game), Team Fortress 2
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Humor, OFF Spoilers, Post-official OFF ending, Semi AU Batter (basically headcanon of what happens after OFF), The Batter is still in character don't worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28515954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DopScratch/pseuds/DopScratch
Summary: The RED team is already dealing with a rather strange (and annoying) turn of events, but it becomes even stranger when a creepy humanoid is dropped into their soon-to-be abandoned base.
Comments: 27
Kudos: 44





	1. Less Than Fourteen Residents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to my first ever fanfiction thingy, ever. Right now, you can see this as a sort of preview, really. This thing is gonna be a beast of a story (five heckin' story arcs!) but it is planned. However, I'm going to work on a sort of buffer before I start posting more chapters- I was going to do that here, but I guess I just got too excited, haha. At any rate, enjoy! And if you have any fun ideas for interactions and whatnot, don't hesitate to tell me- I have serious plot stuff laid out, but I'd love to have more funny little filler(?) chapters to round out the story a bit more. Also, sorry if you see some updates, that's just me rereading and fixing wording and stuff.

“The switch is now on OFF.” Though the darkness was expansive, the phrase did not echo. In fact, the black void seemed to do the opposite, making each word seem clipped as it absorbed the sound into its voluminous mass- or, rather, its lack thereof. All was silent for a long time, the world once teeming with its own little kind of life converted into lightless nothingness. Gone were the carefully crafted islands of metal, gone were the vast oceans of plastic, gone were the wheezing citizens subsiding on meat and smoke. More importantly, gone were the corrupt. The specteres, the guardians, the little boy. Nothing remained. Everything was orderly, everything was pure. The Batter’s job was done. So why was he still here? The pale humanoid stood ramrod straight, not making a single movement. His statue-like appearance was broken as he heard a faint whispering. It only lasted a second, but it was distinct enough to not be dismissed as a simple deception of the mind. He took a single step forward. It was somewhat strange, moving without the influence of the Player, who he could feel was gone. They most likely had left with the rest of the world. Nonetheless, nothing new happened with that stride. There was simply blackness.

After what could have been days, or just mere minutes, the Batter began hearing something that sounded like his own voice. It started as incomprehensible whispering but slowly grew more substantial.

“Are you satisfied?” 

“You could have tried harder.”

“Why did you kill them?”  
“There was another way.” Each sentence came from a new direction. Nothing was supposed to exist anymore. The Batter himself wasn’t supposed to exist. He had flipped the switch, there shouldn’t have been anything left. Yet, the whispering continued, eerily in his own tone. Then, out of the corner of his vision, he spotted something. A flash of white, gone when he turned his head. He peered into the darkness, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature.

“Show yourself,” he paused for a moment before adding “spectre.” The Batter wasn’t entirely sure what this new arrival was, but it was likely not benign. If it could exist past the flipping of the switch, it was bound to be a dangerous foe.

“I am no spectre,” it replied, still using the Batter’s voice. Unlike the baseball-uniformed man, however, its words were dripping with contempt. The Batter raised his bat, readying for battle. He felt the presence of his Add-Ons as he did so. Another strange quirk, but a welcome one, at least until he could eradicate this mysterious entity. 

“Show yourself,” he repeated. This garnered no response, and even the idle whispering grew quiet. There was no more errant movement, no scraps of sound. Gradually, the Batter lowered his guard as the black void returned to its original state. His bat tapped the ‘ground’ soundlessly and he was motionless once again as he pondered the bizarre occurrence.

Time was an odd thing in this strange existence. In a featureless plane containing nothing but the Batter himself, it was difficult to judge how much time passed- if it even passed at all. All the Batter knew is that he had gotten a lot of thinking done by the time he noticed a new disturbance. This time, it was a familiar green splatter in the distance. With nothing else to do, he walked to it. The faded red dot in the center seemed much brighter against the pure black surroundings. The Batter walked atop it, expecting to be informed of where the point led. It was identical to the pathways he used in the old world, so he assumed that it would work the same here. How wrong he was. With a familiar whooshing sound, he was treated to a not-so-familiar sensation of being wrenched off his feet and violently pulled into the point. Whiteness filled his vision for a brief moment, before it all went away.

* * *

Yelling and gunshots rang out in the desolate area. The dehydrated surroundings shook and crumbled at the abuse of seemingly infinite quantities of bullets and explosives. The few scraps of plant life that had weaseled up through the cracked ground were, without fail, trampled or incinerated, a casualty in the endless war for gravel. Every day, two groups of mercenaries faced up against each other. No matter how many times they were struck down, they always came back to fight another round. No matter how many battles were won, the conflict was trapped in a stalemate. This particular afternoon, the clash was nearing its end. The team working for Reliable Excavation Demolition was chasing down the last few members of Builders League United. Some of them simply fled while some launched a last round of projectiles before being dragged along by a teammate or reduced to a bloody mess by the opposition. As the last bits of blue-colored clothing disappeared from view, the RED team cheered- a cacophony of nine distinctive voices each battling for dominance. 

“WOO! Didja see dat, though? I totally just DESTROYED that Heavy!” the youngest member yelled as the general excitement died down. No one cared to bother telling him that his opponent was already riddled with someone else's bullets and that the Scout had merely ran in and stole the killing blow. The team had learned that trying to battle his ego typically ended up making things worse. Despite this, everyone was generally in good spirits. The self-proclaimed ‘black Scottish cyclops’ raised his bottle to his mouth, only to react with disappointment upon noticing that it was empty. A quick look around revealed a plethora of discarded containers around the battleground, all empty as well. 

“Huh. So that’s where me spares went. Ugh... I gotta go get me more’o this... I’m headin’ back in!” the Demoman announced as he tossed the bottle to the side. It shattered on the dusty ground, adding a few more shards to the near-permanent sprinkling of broken glass. The one-eyed alcoholic stepped on a teleporter, which transported him back to the RED base that was no more than twenty feet away. 

“I will never understand that man’s obsession,” the Spy muttered, flicking away his cigarette and immediately lighting another one. The irony was not lost on the hard-hatted Engineer, who bit back a snicker. “At any rate, does anyone here think the fact that those BLU idiots managed to find our, might I remind you, _secret_ base for a third time might be a problem?” For two of the remaining team members, namely the Scout and the Soldier, this concept seemed to be a bit difficult to grasp. A third wasn’t even paying attention. In fact, the mysterious person in a baggy asbestos-lined suit was facing the wrong direction, seeming bored. He- if the thing inside even was a man- hefted his flamethrower and simply hopped onto the teleporter that the Demoman took, done with the conversation and most likely off to burn something. The Spy sighed, a steely expression of frustration on his face. Before he could make any snide comments, however, the largest man in the group spoke up.

“Heavy does not think it matters. We still crush them, yes?” he noted. “Secret or not secret, we win.” 

“Good point, fatty. If you guys are done, I’mma go join Demo.” Without waiting for an answer, Scout left, also bypassing the ridiculously short distance to the base with the teleporter. 

“Yeah, true, but without a base of operations of sorts- that the enemy doesn't know about, mind you, we ain’t got anywhere ta go if we need to retreat. They could just hunt us all down li-” The Engineer was interrupted by a certain psychotic patriot. The rough, loud voice contrasted harshly with Engie's calm Texan drawl.

“Retreat? I don’t want ANY talk of RETREAT from this team, you HEAR ME, TOYMAKER?!” the Soldier yelled, facing the shorter man and getting uncomfortably close. A man in a white, albeit bloodstained coat stepped in before it could escalate and waved his gloved hands dismissively.

“Yes, Herr Soldier, ve get it. America, America, fighting, fighting. Zhe truth is, ve’re going to have to move _again_ and I vould like to pack up my experiments so ve don’t have a repeat of last time’s incident.” Everyone was silent as they relived the horror of that one fateful drive. The Sniper, usually a quieter person, was the first to resume the conversation.

"Medic, if you _ever_ let those bloody abominations out in my van again, I will line up all your pretty little doves and shoot them one by one," he growled, venom in his words. The addressed mad doctor let out a few nervous laughs before backing up and teleporting away. The Spy let out his second, and probably not last sigh of the hour.

“The doctor is right, we should all prepare to move again. I’m sure the Administrator has already found a suitable location.” The debonair infiltrator adjusted his tie and, like all the others, teleported into the base. Sniper, Soldier, and Heavy followed along, Sniper muttering something about his van. The Engineer went through last, and the door to the building, still only twenty feet away, remained forgotten.

Everyone had dispersed by the time the resident hard-hatted genius had arrived. The Soldier was joining Demoman and Scout, the whole ‘pack up’ ordeal having predictably slipped his mind. The Medic was nowhere to be seen, though some rather concerning squelching sounds were coming from his lab. The Sniper was likely in his van and the Spy was elusive as always. The Heavy and the Pyro were the closest, the former gently packing his giant miniguns while the latter was sitting behind a pile of burning magazines. Engineer pulled out his PDA to shut off the teleporter in case that BLU Spy got any ideas. As he did so, however, he noticed something strange. He couldn’t deactivate it. No matter how many times he pressed the button, it stayed rotating and active. The words ‘IN USE: UNKNOWN SOURCE’ flashed across the screen, obscuring the usual view. 

“What in the... Guys? Y’all might wanna see this,” he yelled. As he did so, yet another strange thing happened. The machine started to increase its spin speed. Heavy went to find Medic and Sniper, but Demoman, Scout, and Soldier were still missing, forcing the Engineer to step over. “Quit your drinkin’, boys, we’ve got a situation here!” After a few slurred objections from Demo, they eventually came back. Soon enough, the entire team was assembled around the crouched Engineer, watching the teleporter with varying degrees of interest. It was somehow speeding up, whirring along at a pace that could probably cut off a limb if someone got close enough. The machinery was shaking violently enough to emit an awful clattering sound that made the Engineer cringe.

“So, what’s da big deal ‘ere?” the Scout asked, shuffling from foot to foot impatiently. 

“You may be fast on your feet, but your brain is another matter,” the Spy snarked. “Obviously, there’s something wrong with the teleporter.” He motioned to the vibrating contraption.

“Yup. The thing’s apparently connected to some kinda ‘unknown source’ and I can’t shut it down,” Engineer elaborated.

“Unknown thing could come through from strange place? This is no good.” The Heavy took a lumbering step closer, glaring at the rapidly spinning mechanism. A couple of the mercenaries muttered in agreement, though the Medic looked rather excited.

“I vonder, vhat kind of zhing could somehow access and exploit our teleportation grid like zhis? It certainly can’t be a normal human, right?” he suggested, his voice full of twisted exhilaration at the thought of the experiments he might be able to perform. The Spy rolled his eyes. The conversation was cut short as a loud _VWOONG_ noise came from the teleporter, accompanied by three rings of bright light that quickly dispersed upward and faded. The Engineer rapidly moved back to get out of the way, the others following suit. They all tensed up, getting in various defensive positions- the Scout rather clumsily, punctuated with a loud “WHOAH-WHOAH-WHOAH!” Shards of the device flew everywhere as it exploded. One hit the Soldier’s helmet, sending him staggering and swearing before he tripped on the same piece that hit him and fell to the ground. 

As the temporary blindness from the light rings faded away, a single figure was revealed. It looked almost like a person but not quite. It was all pale white, for one. Barring the coloring, however, there still was something about the way it held itself that suggested something inhuman. It was completely still, as if it was made of stone. Its head was down, and a black hat hid any facial features that would have been visible from that angle. It wore what looked to be a pure white baseball uniform and held an unmarked baseball bat in one hand. The Scout eloquently expressed what the other mercenaries were thinking in their shocked silence.

“Who da heck is dat?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Accidentally deleted my notes while trying to figure out how to stop them from appearing at the end of my new chapter- Can't entirely remember what I said, but a quick overview: Tell me if anyone is OOC since OOC is basically my worst nightmare, I haven't played TF2 because I'm not allowed to play shooters. I've read/watched/seen all of the supplementary content, though. Oh yeah, and the thing about the pictures- Probably gonna be in most chapters, I'm an artist so an extra 30 min-1 hour to make something cool is totally worth it to me.


	2. The Batter Is Not a Normal Mann

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Batter's appearance is an interesting obstacle in the RED team's troubles. Especially since no one can completely agree on what to do with the guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buffer? What buffer? What I heard was post chapters as I finish them, am I right? Yeah. Enjoy! And again, if you all have any funny interaction ideas you want to see, tell me!
> 
> Thank my good friend- I think they're Eclip here- for the fantastic chapter title!

The new visitor wasn’t the most lively of things. It wasn’t speaking, it wasn’t moving, it didn’t even seem to be breathing. It simply stood there amongst the wreckage of the teleporter. The team continued to gawk at it, barring the Soldier, who was still unconscious. Medic reached out a hand to touch it, trying to ascertain if it was actually alive. Suddenly, its head snapped up, causing everyone to flinch. The questionably sane man of science took a full step back, whipping his arms behind his back as he gave his best pass at an innocent smile. Despite the entity having looked up, its eyes were still obscured. In fact, it was debatable whether it possessed them at all. It smoothly, almost mechanically assessed its surroundings before turning its head back to the original direction it was facing. The mercenaries watched its every movement warily. The staring match between the two parties was broken by the Pyro, who started yelling excitedly while pointing at the newcomer. As always, its words were muffled by the gas mask it always wore. The Engineer, who spent enough time around the enigmatic firestarter to somewhat understand it, raised an eyebrow.

“A duck..?” he asked, peering at the bright white and decidedly human-shaped creature before him. Before Pyro could elaborate, the Scout butted in, as always.

“No, seriously. Who _is_ dis guy?” he asked, motioning to the baseball attire-clad humanoid. The other team members (barring Soldier) turned to stare at the runner.

“We don’t _know,_ ” Spy said in a voice that was a mix of condescension and exasperation.

“I’m the Batter.” Everyone was startled at the unfamiliar, monotone voice. The Demoman’s bottle slowly slipped out of his hand as he paused mid-drink, landing with a clunk.

“Bloody hell, the thing _talks_!” the explosives expert exclaimed. Ever the diplomat, the Spy stepped forward to address the newly named Batter.

“Well, Monsieur... Batter. You can call me the Spy. What brings you here?” he asked cautiously. He held his arms behind his back, knife in hand just in case things took a turn for the worse.

“I don’t know,” the Batter replied succinctly. The Spy waited for a moment, possibly for some elaboration. None was provided. Meanwhile, the Medic looked like he was about to lose whatever was left of his mind of excitement. He did his best to stay standing in one place, but twitched restlessly, leaning in one direction or the other to get a good look at the arrival. The Pyro was equally, if not more delighted by the Batter. In fact, it decided now was a prime opportunity to greet him. Hefting a slightly chipped fire axe, it stepped forward to offer the sweet lollipop to the adorable ducky.

“Whoah, _whoah_ , _Pyro, NO!_ ” The Engineer grabbed the firebug by the arm to stop it from hacking the mysterious person to pieces. He stepped in front of it to keep it from trying anything else. Thankfully, the Batter remained unperturbed by the Pyro’s intimidating advance. “Sorry ‘bout that, mister. Pyro’s a bit...” the builder trailed off. “Anyway! Howdy. I’m the Engineer.” He smiled in a friendly manner and held his hand out for a handshake. When the Batter made no move to take it, the shorter man’s smile turned into a more strained, awkward one. He slowly lowered his arm.

“Do you know of my mission?” the Batter asked cryptically. With his emotionless voice, it was difficult to tell if the question was rhetorical or not. The Spy traded a few sideways glances with the intelligent members of the team before answering.

“Not... at the moment. If you don’t mind, I ask if you would kindly go along with Scout over there. We have some things to discuss about events prior to your arrival here.” He made sure to keep the response broad enough to encompass both possibilities of the meaning of the Batter’s words. Thankfully, he didn’t seem too hostile, considering that he hadn’t even taken a single step from the scorch mark where the teleporter once was. It wasn’t too much of a risk, the Spy hoped. So far, he hadn’t done anything unpredictable and seemed almost robotic with his responses. It shouldn’t be _too_ difficult to contain him. Meanwhile, Scout didn’t seem too happy with his assigned task.

“Aw man, why do _I_ hafta look after it?” he complained.

“Think of it as an opportunity to tell this ‘Batter’ about your... _accomplishments_ ,” Spy responded. This seemed to satisfy the egotistical athlete, who immediately jogged off and motioned for the Batter to follow. He did, eerily making almost no noise as he strode away. For someone who hadn’t even moved when he had first appeared, he was quite quick. Once the two disappeared from view, the real discussion started.

“So. What do you propose we do to deal with _this?_ ”

* * *

The Batter had many things on his mind. He had no mission. He was in a strange world. The air felt thin and smelled wrong, though the smoke swirling around the man in the cloth mask (the Spy, he recalled) provided a little bit of familiarity. However, it was only an outlier in the alien setting. The surroundings didn’t seem to be metal _or_ plastic, and the people? They were-

“So, then, I whacked him and he flew like fifty thousand _million_ feet, and everyone was like, ‘Whoah, Scout, you’re so strong and awesome!’ Basically, if you didn’t get it, I’m totally da best one here. None o’ those guys hold a _candle_ to me. Oh! And you just _gotta_ hear about this one time...” The Batter tuned the annoying little man out. Or at least, he tried to. It wasn’t an easy task. Searching for something to focus on, he settled on walking. One foot in front of the other. Each step, not controlled by some being from above, but rather by his very own will. The absence of the Player was still strange- especially considering the fact he was no longer in a vast nothingness. He was stranded in a world full of life. 

“...And guess what, he couldn’t land a single hit on me! I wasn’t even _tryin’_ and I totally...” That annoying voice had seeped in. Again, the Batter forced the auditory information to the back of his mind before continuing his train of thought. He existed for a purpose, and now that his mission was complete, he expected to at least attain a new one if he was to remain in existence. Yet, this was not the case. Any guidance from the missing Player or even the larger being who gave _them_ their instruction was gone. A strange feeling settled upon him, one he couldn’t quite place. Emptiness... He wasn’t _useless_ , was he? No, he had a function. It was only a matter of time until it revealed itself. Perhaps the people here could be of some assistance- though likely not the one he was currently with. He doubted that this ‘Scout’ had even accomplished any of the things he claimed he had. Although, despite the fellow baseball cap wearer’s irritating nature, the Batter had to admit that the lack of nervousness was refreshing after a world full of Elsen. 

“...Yeah! Anyway- Hey, baseball guy, can you, uh, move once and a while? ‘Cause, you just standin’ there is kinda freaky. Eh, anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah! I was surrounded on all sides...” 

Or maybe not.

* * *

“I do not trust this man,” Heavy announced, glaring down the hall at where the Batter had departed.

“Well, I guess we don’t know too much about him. We don’t know where he’s from, we don’t know what he wants... Heck, we don’t even know what he even is,” Engineer added, thinking aloud. Pyro raised a finger and mumbled a response. “But I’m fairly sure he isn’t a duck.” The unstable firestarter crossed its arms at this silly denial and shook its head, another mutter escaping its mask. “That’s just harsh, pardner.”

“I, for one, zhink he is _fascinating_ ,” Medic chimed in, punctuated by a step forward.

“Of course ya would,” Sniper muttered, quiet enough for the crazed medical practitioner to miss it.

“Ye know, I actually agree wit’ Doc on this one,” Demo admitted. “I don’ think he had any eyes!” There was a decent helping of respect in the one-eyed drunkard’s voice. 

“I believe you’ve all forgotten that we still need to leave this base as soon as possible,” Spy reminded everyone, walking over from checking communications. “In fact, the Administrator has already given us our new location.”

“Leave? What’d I miss?” The Demoman was suddenly a bit more attentive.

“This is secret base. BLU not supposed to know where it is. So we leave for new secret base,” Heavy summarized in his typical direct fashion. “I say we leave faceless baby man and go.”

“No!” Medic objected, rather suddenly and loudly. “He’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before! I- _ve_ could have some use for him. Perhaps...” He trailed off as he got lost in thought. So many possibilities... 

The argument continued for a little while. Many members of the team didn’t actually care too much, though Pyro did seem to want the Batter to stay. Heavy maintained that the newcomer didn’t sit quite right with him, and the Medic asserted, rather forcefully, that he’d quite like the creature around. Demo suggested that the Batter make his own choice, but no one seemed to give the idea much thought. Finally, the Spy proposed a compromise.

“The ‘Batter’ seems rather docile, does he not? At any rate, he doesn't seem like one to do anything unreasonable. And if he does, we have him outnumbered nine to one. Our base situation is the more pressing one at the moment. We don’t need the BLUs to come back whilst we have an unknown in our midst. Why don’t we solve this first, and then deal with the Batter later?” This suggestion was met with nods all around, though the Heavy’s was more begrudging than accepting. Everyone began to disperse, beginning their preparations again. Out of nowhere, the Soldier woke up.

“AAUGH! LEGS! WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME? I AM ON THE FLOOR. I AM NOT _SUPPOSED_ TO BE ON THE FLOOR. YOU _WILL_ DO YOUR JOB, LEGS, OR I WILL-”

“ _Soldier._ ” The sheer amount of disdain in the phrase seemed to work magic as the crazed patriot ceased yelling at his legs (though not before giving them a low “Oh, I am _not_ done with you”). He got off of the ground and looked at the masked Frenchman who had addressed him. “Go pack up your heads and whatever other... things you own. We’re leaving.”

“Really? Where?”

“You were _there_. I- you know what, don’t think about it. It’s an order, that’s all you need to know."

“If you think you can order me around, you filthy Frenchman, you CANNOT!” The Soldier’s ramblings were unheard, as Spy had already slunk away, leaving him to yell at nothing about the glory and superiority of America. Eventually, he forgot the original problem he had, the only thing sticking in his mind being the order. And as a good American soldier, of course it was his duty to follow it.

* * *

The Spy was off in search of the Batter and the Scout. It was in unspoken agreement that he would be the one to deal with them, as he proposed the idea of what to do with the Batter. And, of course, he saw himself as the only one fit to do the deed anyway. He simply followed the sound of Scout’s voice, and eventually came across him talking animatedly to the Batter, who was significantly less animated. He almost laughed at the poor soul, forced to sit through Scout’s stories for all this time. The only thing that stopped him was the immediate annoyance he felt as he existed within the general proximity of Scout deep in his rambling. The exaggerated tales of excellence, that cocky grin, and that obnoxious voice immediately sucked whatever good mood he had out of him. The Spy cleared his throat. Only the Batter noticed, the Scout too engrossed in his own speech to hear. 

“How do you get him to stop talking?” the Batter asked innocently, turning his head to look at the other man.

“You don’t.” The reply was in a tone of absolute resentment. The Batter considered this newfound knowledge for a moment before raising his bat and whacking the Scout hard in the head with astonishing speed. The Spy wasn’t sure if even _his_ reflexes could have stopped it, though he didn’t exactly try, if only to see the Bostonian get some retribution. He did draw his knife, however, in case the Batter decided to turn on him as well. 

“He stopped.” The phrase was completely deadpan. The Spy semi-successfully bit back his laughter, a small snort and a bit of a smile escaping.

“Auugh, my hEAD!” Scout complained, arms over his injured skull. “Dat hurt, you moron! MEDIC!” The Medic, far off in his lab, looked up from sliding various organs into a cooler. He could have sworn he heard- or sensed something. Something horrible. However, he dismissed it and got back to work.

“He’s talking again.” The Batter took back everything he ever thought about this man being better than the Elsen. He raised his bat to strike again, but was stopped by the other occupant, the sharply dressed man.

“I think that’s enough. Tell me, are you planning to do that to anyone else here?” The Spy chose the direct route, since the Batter seemed like a very direct person.

“No.” 

“Good. Now, we are leaving here soon. If you don’t mind, Batteur, you will be coming with us.” 

“Is this my mission?” The Spy paused at this inquiry. He seemed rather focused on a ‘mission,’ whatever it may be. It was almost like he was a robot without programming, sitting around until it obtained directions or orders.

“...Yes, for now. Go wait in the main room until everyone is ready.” There wasn’t any better time than now to test this being’s adherence to instruction. Things seemed to be going well, as the Batter immediately and purposefully walked back to the room he appeared in.

The Batter liked the masked man, the Spy- or, at least, whatever feeling would equate to ‘like’ for the stoic puppet. The man had an air of familiarity, from the smoke swirling around him to the snippets of a language he recognized. The Spy had even informed him of a mission, a task. Strangeness didn’t bother the Batter, but a small part of him found the slight bit of normalcy nice. So, he waited.

* * *

In an unspecified place, a woman sat in front of a wall of monitors. Most of what she saw was mundane, just the usual activities of the mercenaries she kept watch on. However, she felt something wasn’t right as she glanced over the screens. With a more critical eye, she examined the video feeds again. There. A man, clad in white, just in the corner of the display. 

“Pauling,” the woman said in a cold voice. A younger woman, standing behind her looked up.

“Yes, Administrator?”

“We have a... loose end.” Pauling scanned over the screens until she spotted the aforementioned issue.

“Oh no.”

“Keep an eye on it. If it begins to meddle, take care of it.”

“Okay. Got it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How exciting- yeah. I need to stop drawing the picture before I finish the chapter because then I just get tempted to post the chapter as soon as possible. We'll see if this buffer thing ever materializes. Maybe I'll get a schedule! Who am I kidding, I'm horrible at time- 
> 
> Anyway, if you have any concerns or spot any errors, just tell me. I wanna get these characters right, haha.


End file.
